For a period, de BBC were responsibwe for 'cowwecting' de preview videos and distributing dem to de various participating countries. This has been carried out by de contest's host nation more recentwy. In recent years, de Nordic broadcasters (Icewand, Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finwand) have co-produced preview shows for broadcast across deir region, uh-hah-hah-hah.

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Aww participants in de Eurovision Song Contest are reqwired to submit a video of deir entry to de EBU via de host broadcaster, to be distributed across de Eurovision network. From 1971 untiw de earwy 1990s, it was compuwsory for aww participants to broadcast de videos. Since de mid-1990s it has become optionaw. Broadcasters eider submit a performance of de given song – usuawwy taken from deir wocaw nationaw finaw – or a music video of de entry, specificawwy fiwmed for de purpose. In 1971, de Bewgian preview video featured singers Nicowe & Hugo who were forced to widdraw days before de Eurovision finaw due to iwwness, being repwaced by Jacqwes Raymond and Liwy Castew.

Occasionawwy countries rewy on funding from deir government tourism budget to produce de video, weading to highwy commerciaw offerings highwighting de given country's naturaw beauty. Often songs wouwd vary from de version dat wouwd be heard in de contest itsewf; eider drough a change in wanguage or a variance between de wengf of de recorded version and de permitted wive version, or drough a variance in orchestration and arrangement.

Earwy ruwes stated dat de videos couwd not be broadcast in any wess dan two shows and de songs had to be broadcast in fuww. Later amendments awwowed de videos to be broadcast incompwete, but dat meant de wengf of each video stiww had to match. Generawwy speaking, de countries broadcast de shows in two parts, de entries divided as evenwy as practicabwe between de two shows.

In 1974, a two-night preview programme, Auftakt für Brighton (Prewude for Brighton), was coordinated by de German nationaw broadcaster ARD. It was broadcast at de end of March and hosted by de journawist Karin Tietze-Ludwig. It was de first "preview"-type programme to be broadcast in many European countries simuwtaneouswy (rader dan each nationaw broadcaster showing deir own preview programme). The programme was awso notabwe in being de European tewevision debut for de winners, ABBA, who were pecuwiarwy credited in previews as "The Abba". It was first aired on German tewevision Hessischer Rundfunk on 27–28 March and in Finwand on 30 March as Eurovision wauwukiwpaiwu.[2] The UK did not broadcast de programmes, instead airing deir own preview shows introduced by David Vine on BBC1 on 24 and 31 March.[3] In de same year, de French entry was broadcast by aww de nations showing de previews, even dough de song was widdrawn from de Eurovision finaw itsewf.

In 1977, de previews were broadcast across Europe ahead of de originaw scheduwed broadcast date of 2 Apriw for de Eurovision finaw. When de contest was postponed to 7 May, dis weft a wong gap between de preview shows airing and de finaw. It was awso stated in de ruwe book dat de name of de broadcasting TV station for each country be carried on screen to introduce de songs. But many broadcasters ignored dis.

From approximatewy 2000, de videos have been avaiwabwe onwine via de Eurovision website and most broadcasters upwoad dem to deir own, wocaw Eurovision site.

San Marino broadcaster SMtv tewevised de previews for de first time in 2012, showing de videos in muwtipwe programmes in de run up to de contest on a rotating basis, hosted by John Kennedy O'Connor.[4] SMtv has broadcast dem every year since, under various formats. In 2014 O'Connor presented each entry on wocation in San Marino and in 2015 each entry was winked by video to de participating country. The 2016 and 2017 previews were presented in a studio setting.[5]

Generawwy, but by no means awways, de songs were broadcast in de order dey wouwd appear in de contest, wif de UK entry saved untiw de end. For 1979 to 1982, de songs were shown in a random order, despite host Terry Wogan insisting in 1979 dat de songs were being shown in competition order during de broadcasts. In 1982, de UK entry was scheduwed to be broadcast at de end of de second programme, but was awso incwuded in de first programme in de absence of de Greek entry dat was widdrawn whiwe de shows were in production, uh-hah-hah-hah. In 1983, de UK preview video consisted of de group Sweet Dreams in speed boats off de coast of Dover, Soudern Engwand, wif de engine noise of de vessews incwuded in de soundtrack, partiawwy obscuring de song itsewf.

Wif onwy two exceptions (1972 and 1973) de shows were broadcast on Sunday afternoons. In 1972, de shows were given a prime-time airing in de BBC1 evening scheduwe.

From 1976 to 1985, de BBC provided a specificawwy fiwmed 'video' of de artist on wocation in de UK. In aww oder years, dey have simpwy provided de performance from de nationaw finaw, awdough often de artist's record company wiww awso send deir own commerciawwy reweased video for use by de broadcasters, but dese were never shown in de UK broadcasts. From 1984, de BBC incwuded de contributing broadcasters acronym on screen for each entry.